Pedro Sánchez defended this Friday before the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, the plan of the leader of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, to end Russia’s war against his country. This was conveyed to him at the beginning of their bilateral meeting in the only minutes that a restricted press pool has been allowed access to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
“We must continue to bet on peace, a peace that must be fair, lasting, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and that respects the principles of international order: the sovereignty and integrity of the attacked country, as President Zelenski claims in his formula for peace, which Spain supports”, underlined Sánchez.
Previously, Xi – who has taken the floor first – has avoided referring explicitly to the war in Ukraine, which China has so far referred to as a “crisis”. The only implicit mention that the president of the Asian country has made has been to refer to the effects of international turmoil” against which he has highlighted that the Spanish leader has fought “successfully” as well as “against Covid”.
In his initial speech, Sánchez told Xi that he was “very interested in knowing his vision of the current global geostrategic context” and also “his position on a war that is particularly affecting Ukraine”, especially after his visit to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. “In Europe we are once again experiencing the horrors of a war that we believe is illegal and unjust and, therefore, it is a time for dialogue and the defense of a rules-based multilateral order,” she argued.
Before his appointment with Xi Sánchez, he was received by the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Quiang, in the imposing Great Hall of the People -located in Tiananmen Square- before a detachment of uniformed soldiers made up equally of men and women. Geopolitical issues were not addressed at that meeting, although the president of the host country did stress that “Spain is a large country in the European Union that plays an important role in international affairs” and that the president is a politician with “a lot of experience”. and that “it has promoted collaborations between the two countries.”
Among the agreements signed this Friday in Beijing, one on educational promotion measures stands out, another related to physical education and sports and a third to facilitate the export of Spanish almonds and persimmons, products that will be added to shipments of red wine and olive oil. that have been highlighted this Friday in the conversations between the representatives of both countries. But, beyond the specific issues, Sánchez insisted that China and the European Union must “move towards a more balanced trade relationship.”
For the meeting with Xi, the Spanish delegation had to undergo strict security controls, prohibiting access with computers and also mobile phone chargers, which had to remain without internet or Bluetooth connection inside the Great Hall of the People. Both the president, as well as the small team that has accompanied him, and even the two cameras that have recorded the images of the meeting in a pool regime have also had to undergo a PCR and, except for the leaders, the use of masks has been mandatory .
This is Sánchez’s first official visit to China since his arrival at La Moncloa, thus corresponding to the deference shown by Xi when he traveled to Madrid in 2018, coinciding with the 45th anniversary of the beginning of diplomatic relations between the two countries. At this meeting they agreed on a joint declaration to relaunch their strategic collaboration in areas such as science, technology, innovation and exports which, according to La Moncloa’s admission, was interrupted by Covid.
The impetus for this new bilateral summit after the pandemic that disrupted geopolitics worldwide occurred during the bilateral meeting held by the two leaders at the G-20 celebration last November after the Asian giant reopened its borders after the strong restrictions applied in the country. Government sources emphasize that the appointment comes at a time of “great international relevance” for Spain that even exceeds the mandate of Felipe González with the entry into the European Economic Community and NATO.
Sánchez, who in the last week has met with more than 40 leaders from three continents at the European Council in Brussels, the Ibero-American Summit in Santo Domingo and his trip to China, continues with his intense agenda outside the national sphere. Next week -April 4 and 5- he will resume his mini-tours of visits to three countries in two days as a step prior to the assumption of the rotating Presidency of the 27 in the second half of the year that will take him to Cyprus, Malta and Italy , where he will hold a meeting with the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, which generates a particular expectation due to the ideological antipodes in which both leaders are located.
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